The disease affects between 1 in 400 and 1 in 1,000 people worldwide – around 12.5 million individuals.

A rarer form of the disease, which occurs in about one in every 20,000 live births in the UK, leads to a third of these babies dying before or just after birth.

Published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, the pioneering new treatment, which involves targeting tiny blood and lymphatic vessels inside the kidneys, is shown to improve renal function and slow progression of disease in mice.

Treatment for the condition has traditionally targeted proteins which are thought to play a role in causing the condition and are located in hair-like structures and tissue that line the inside of cysts.

These treatments can help alleviate some of the symptoms of PKD but they can’t currently cure the condition.

Researchers in Manchester and at University College London have now discovered that the blood and lymphatic system surrounding cysts may also be important in the development of the condition and could be a new target for treating the disease.

Adrian Woolf, Professor of Paediatric Science at the University of Manchester and co-author of the study added: “If we could target these blood vessels early in the development of the condition it could potentially lead to much better outcomes for patients.”

By looking at mouse models of both the common and rarer form of the disease, the team noticed that tiny blood vessels surrounding the cysts were altered very early in cyst development.

They therefore treated the mice with a potent ‘growth factor’ protein called VEGFC, and found that patterns of blood vessels normalised and the function of the kidneys improved.

In the mice with the rare form of the condition, it also led to a modest but significant increase in lifespan.

David Long, lead researcher and Principal Research Associate at the ICH, explains: “With further testing, treatments that target blood vessels surrounding the kidney cysts, perhaps in combination with currently used drugs, may prove to be beneficial for patients with polycystic kidney disease.”

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